Despard Gallery is excited to share some new addition to the stockroom, with a suite of bronze stingrays by Brisbane based artist, curator and gallerist, Michael Eather.
The stingray has been a dominant and ongoing theme within his practice, described by Eather as a personal messenger and a symbol of freedom. Created in bronze, Eather sees the stingray as a spiritual companion, silently journeying through an imagined country, representing both wisdom gained and destinations yet reached.
Often presented suspended and life-size, Eather’s stingrays symbolise his creative freedom, but more importantly acknowledge the power behind collaborative knowledge and being united through shared cultural understanding. This includes finding strength navigating our cultural crossroads and recognising the ongoing exchange between life and art.
‘I have never tired of making these forms, chasing their nature, reimagining these magnetic coastal vessels in all sorts of materials including latex, fibreglass, aluminium and bronze. I’ve painted and drawn them amongst flying rocks, disappearing into wallpaper interiors or sifting through envelopes. Destined targets … attracted to the shadowlands… dodging the obstacles. The mind of this nature is not a problem that can be easily solved, more a theatre of eternal contradictions that we somersault through.’
